Carlson Survey F2F power users?

We have a massive F2F file. Definitely a time saver once it is up and running and everyone else understands how it works. It has its flukes here and there, but 99.9% of the time it works flawlessly.

We have several setups for CAD and Civil Suite. I use CAD15 with Civil Suite 17 and intellicad 8.1 with Civil Suite 17. Other guys in office use CAD13/Suite 15. We all run Windows 7. I'm thinking of trying 10 but haven't heard good things.

We all run from the same fcl. Update one and load it into all our systems. I know we have a couple differences between systems with using F2F. I can't tell you specifics about the differences. It's usually minor. Like one won't recognize a code for whatever reason. Could be the combos of CAD/Suite. Never looked into it that much. Easy enough for one of us to open the drawing on another system.

The recent issue was Survce in the DC would draw the reverse curves. It was a long segment of landscape curb that switched back and forth several times. The computer ignored all the points between the begining and end points and drew one giant arc. Checked our FCL. didn't see anything wrong. Quick fix was exporting linework from DC into a DWG. and inserted into the drawing. It has drawn things like this many times before but didn't like this one.

For your tree issue I know we had a similar issue. I didn't work on the issue myself and I will be checking with the guys tomorrow for you to get exact details of the resolution.

We are getting closer and closer to running F2F and it draws exactly what it is suppose to. The biggest issue is field guys not coding something correctly or forgetting to end linework and it draws all over the place. Or they use symbol codes for linework and you have symbols all over the place.

I'd be more than happy to take a look at your FCL. File and if you had an ASCII I could run on my system to see what's going I might be able to see your problems.

I've been using Carlson F2F for years, and I wouldn't go any other way. But I do see mysterious things with it now and then. Sometimes I re-start the program when I have some funky stuff going on. I can't explain why it behaves the way it does sometimes, but as long as it fixes itself eventually, I'm good with it.

Bottom line with this is that it'll draw linework and create breaklines, but it's only as good as your field collection. Use the right codes, take shots in the right places and it'll do all the drafting, except for the labeling, for you.

The issue you have with a tree coming in and to scale is one i have. Carlson solver has about 10 codes, per tree type so technically there is a whole slew of codes in your pocket. I am using Carlson 2017 with intellicad and have found it takes a bit to set up, but once i did, and still fine tuning, it seems to work great. One thing they don't tell you is that you DO NOT NEED TO FINISH YOUR CODES!!! we use B (space) BC, for example and shoot what we need. When a new BC comes just do B BC and it works fine. I think this is a leftover from some other version of code, but I have done a few test and it is not needed for me.

Cheers

Can you share your F2F file?

Thanks all, here is the FLD if anyone wants to look at it : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0end_GiwNPMZU1TelhtbTFsLTA/view?usp=sharing

I downloaded and tried using your .fld on a prior project. Looks like you have a lot of user-defined symbols. I mostly use the out of the box symbols that Carlson provides, so I don't know if maybe that's your problem. I do use some self-made symbols, but I don't remember if I had to massage things any to make them work. And I'll admit that I didn't take the time to re-define all of codes to existing symbols.

The one scary thing that I see is your codes putting points on Real Z. I'd advise against that. There's no reason to have them there, you can use an external point file or even your crd for topo/contouring.

Thank you for looking. I didn't really think twice about the real Z thing since I'm so used to civil points being elevated. I can give it a shot.

My workflow plan is to only use Survey to draw lines and symbols, and then import that into a civil 3d dwg where the c3d points will reside, so I really don't need point symbols other than some to work as labels for things like hydrants, and poles, etc.

I noticed in you trees, for the code PINE, you have the symbol size set to 0.000. That could be an issue. One thing I liked about setting mine up, which i am still working on, is that you can open it and paste into excel and do a majority of your work there and then paste it back

For your tree codes set the feature type from topo to tree. If you didn't know you have feature settings for tress and pipes as well. One of my tree codes attached.

I tried the tree stuff, was trying to eliminate the extra options in there with the topo type for now. But maybe the auto scaling is the bug and we could just adopt fixed codes for fixed sizes. Ty.

What does setting the feature type to Tree do to the point?

Again, still adapting my codes to Carlson and want to get it right the first time.

But speaking of trees, in LDD and C3D, our company is able to use numbers after the code to scale the tree, i.e. AA3 would be a 3" ash and the symbol comes in scaled using the 3. Spoke with Carlson and there solution was for me to make different codes with different scales for the symbols. We have 20+ trees and to have multiple codes for each seems like an outdated way.

Anyone have any solutions they have used?

ANOTHER_TEXAS_SURVEYOR, post: 417077, member: 8610 wrote: What does setting the feature type to Tree do to the point?

Again, still adapting my codes to Carlson and want to get it right the first time.

But speaking of trees, in LDD and C3D, our company is able to use numbers after the code to scale the tree, i.e. AA3 would be a 3" ash and the symbol comes in scaled using the 3. Spoke with Carlson and there solution was for me to make different codes with different scales for the symbols. We have 20+ trees and to have multiple codes for each seems like an outdated way.

Anyone have any solutions they have used?

Per the current Draw Field-to-Finish documentation:

Tree surveys can be coded simply by using general Field-to-Finish coding methods such as defining a code for a tree ("OAK") with a tree symbol and using the SZ special code for sizing the symbol. For tree survey specific features, go to the Tree Survey button on the main edit codes dialog. This function brings up a dialog with tree survey settings. The tree survey works with three attributes for each tree: trunk, drip and tag. Trunk is the diameter of the tree trunk. Drip is the radius of the tree canopy. Tag is an id for the tree for reporting.
...
On the Description Codes tab, there are setting to help identify the tree attributes in the point description. The program looks for the trunk size, drip size, tag ID and height in the point description after the tree code. By default, the program expects the attributes to be in the order of trunk size, drip size, tag ID and height. Here's an example default order:
OAK 16 12 100 28
where OAK is the tree code from the code table, 16 is the trunk diameter, 12 is the drip radius, 100 is the tag ID and height is 28.

There are several ways in which trees (along with varied sizes, species, etc) can be coded. For example, consider a code called TREE whose default description in the DWG is TREE. For descriptions:

TREE * OAK Result on screen would be: TREE OAK
TREE OAK * Result on screen would be: OAK TREE
TREE OAK Result on screen would be: OAK

For sizes using the SZ special code:

This code is used to set a different symbol size. There are several ways to use this code. It can take multiple scale factors for different dimensions by putting an ID character after the factor.

SZ: If nothing follows the SZ code, then the next point with the same field code as the current point will be used to determine the size.
SZ#: The value of the new symbol size is specified after the SZ. This value is the actual size in drawing units. For example, SZ2.
SZ#X: The value after the SZ is used to scale the symbol in the X dimension. For example, SZ2X.
SZ#Y: The value after the SZ is used to scale the symbol in the Y dimension. For example, SZ2Y.
SZ#Z or SZ#V: The value after the SZ is used to scale the symbol in the Z (Vertical) dimension. For example, SZ2Z.
SZ#H: The value after the SZ is used to scale the symbol in the X,Y (Horizontal) dimensions. For example, SZ2H.
SZ#S: The value after the SZ is a symbol size scaler that get multiplied by the drawing horizontal scale to determine the actual drawing units. For example, SZ0.2S.

The X, Y, Z, V and H can be combined. For example, to scale a symbol by 10 horizontally and 25 vertically, use SZ10H25Z. Or to scale a symbol by 2 in the X direction and 4 in the Y direction, use SZ2X4Y.

When multiple SZ codes are used in the same point description, the symbol is drawn multiple times at the different sizes. For example, a point description of "TREE SZ5 SZ10" will draw the tree symbol twice. One symbol will be size 5 and the other size 10.

Depending on your procedures, you might also consider Fixed Parameters:

Fixed Parameters: This option is a coding method where you specify a sequence of parameters that follow the main code. There can be up to three parameters and these parameters can be an additional description or special codes Description, GIS Attribute, Size, Rotate, Azimuth, Distance or Offsets. The purpose for Fixed Parameters is to save keystrokes by not having to enter the special code prefix. For example, for a code TR for Tree along with a size 12 feet and description of Oak, the special code description would be "TR SZ12 // OAK". With Fixed Parameters of Size and Description, the description would be "TR 12 OAK".

I hope this information helps.

Thanks,

I am going to try this out and see how it works

ANOTHER_TEXAS_SURVEYOR, post: 417077, member: 8610 wrote: What does setting the feature type to Tree do to the point?

Again, still adapting my codes to Carlson and want to get it right the first time.

But speaking of trees, in LDD and C3D, our company is able to use numbers after the code to scale the tree, i.e. AA3 would be a 3" ash and the symbol comes in scaled using the 3. Spoke with Carlson and there solution was for me to make different codes with different scales for the symbols. We have 20+ trees and to have multiple codes for each seems like an outdated way.

Anyone have any solutions they have used?

When I first started to use carlson based on the reviews here. I literally keep trying to tear my hair out trying to configure everything to my standards. But tech support is good, they reply with solutions within the day.

For the point trees.
I can code for example OAK 30 100 where 30 is the girth of the tree and 100 is the height of the tree. The tree symbol can be automatically scaled based on the girth of the tree if thats is what you are asking. Also one neat feature is that it can automatically produce a tree table for you in your drawing when you call the features.

Thanks all for the help I haven't had time to get back into this yet but I will soon.

I'll probably catch a lot of flak for this, but I never liked the Carlson office software F2F. I use SurvCE and I do use the field to finish on there. Then I use Civil 3D for drafting, so I take the DXF from SurvCE and import it. Then all the 2D and 3D poly-lines are there. Then I manage all my point styles with C3D point groups. I have found this to be the best way for me personally.